Sunday 23 December 2012

Scottish-Anglers.net



I stumbled across a wee fishing site, scottish-anglers.net via the traffic sources tool from Blogger this morning.

I'm assuming this is because a link has been posted on the forum about fishing in scotland but I don't seem to be able to view the post it's coming from ?

The site makes interesting viewing where I could view topics but am unsure whether there is a board restriction in place for non-members or whether there is a bug which stops viewing as there were quite a few topics which were unreadable and the  " Sorry, you don't have permission for that " message wouldn't even be displayed. It was as though sections such as recipes that you would expect to be able to see were getting a broken  link ?

The only thing I would say about those kind of board restrictions if they are intentional, is, that they definately lead to putting potential members off, then again maybe that's the idea. If it's not though, surely a much better approach would be to have private sections which are not on the public interface and  can only be viewed by selected members if that type of thing is what's wanted. That way folk don't feel as though they have to be part of the "committee" to be part of the forum.

I reckon most folk these days tend to avoid those kind of forums, having had more than enough experience of them in the past. One of the major problems with forums that have " secret " sections when it comes to fishing reports etc,. Is the fact that the global approach is to edit out fishing locations , as the general population are not deemed worthy to acquire their whereabouts and keep them for the select few. Another major problem is that should anyone ever fall foul of the board owners or moderators, they are excluded from access to " secret " sections they may well have contributed to. I'd have thought the members of that forum would've been more opposed to that kind of approach than anyone !

Anyway that point aside, I didn't try to register even though it did seem a decent enough forum and I've met a couple of folk who post on there because I didn't really want to intrude but It would be nice if someone could send a link that would let me view the topic about fishinscotland if there is one ?


Edit History

( First Published 18/12/12 )( Revised 21/12/12 for comments )
( Revised 23/12/12 for comments )

7 comments:

  1. I would like to point out that most forums only show part of their content to "guests" and always have area's only viewable by actually registering to be part of the site. This has nothing to do with being "secret" about any of the content and is actually more to do with site security and keeping members safe from potential hackers and/or spammers, trouble makers etc etc the list goes on. scottish-anglers.net is not run by some child playing at being a web master but rather by a fully qualified php web coder who has been working on forums too long to remember and just so happens to enjoy fishing and has the good fortune to have some great friends with that same interest.
    The forum is of the highest standards as would be expected from such a person and a very friendly bunch frequent it, just the way it should be.
    How you can pass any comment on a website you do not even know is beyond my comprehension but I suppose that's the internet for you.

    Try actually finding out about a website before you make a feeble attempt at slating it, have you joined ? NO. Do you know the owner ? NO. So who on earth are you to pass any judgement on a website and which qualifications do you have in web design and /or web developement ?

    Merry x-mas

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  2. Well anonymous, it would have been better if you had included your name in order for us to have a sensible discussion on your views.

    However, Jim ( I hope you don't mind if I call you that, it's a common turn of phrase in Glasgow when in conversation with someone who's name is unknown ) I will try to answer your comments as best I can.

    1. I disagree with your point that:-

    " most forums only show part of their content to "guests" and always have area's only viewable by actually registering to be part of the site. This has nothing to do with being "secret" about any of the content and is actually more to do with site security and keeping members safe from potential hackers and/or spammers, trouble makers etc etc the list goes on "

    I've made my views clear on the matter so I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

    2. From what I've seen of the public sections, the forum seems pretty interesting but it's my opinion that " secret " sections on public forums are kept as such in order to exclude members from them should someone on the " committee " take the hump.

    I won't be joining in order to view the hidden sections becasue if I did so I would have to do so under an alias for fear of having offended someone I have never met down to an openly posted internet comment. Of the forum members I have met ( and I've met a few ) they've been pretty decent guys. I can't pass comment on you personally though, because you have chosen to remain anon - y - mous.

    I don't think you're the forum owner though.

    3. I dunno why you seem to have gone off on one at my unbiased opinion regarding forums with hidden content in general however. But It seems to me you should take a more objective look at what I did say. Then you would see I in no way made " a feeble attempt at slating " scottish-anglers.net or it's members and neither did I " pass any judgement on it ". I merely expressed a few unbiased opinions on forums with closed content which is displayed publicly.

    Just as an aside, do you have any of the qualifications you seem to feel I should have in order to express an opinion on the internet ?

    Anyway, as I said, scottish-anglers.net from what I can read of it seems a decent enough wee forum with quite a few decent members.

    Thank you for your comments. I will always try to answer anyone who leaves a comment on this blog honestly, genuinely and without bias whether they deserve it or not.

    Merry Xmas to you too Jim ! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. One last point.

    I think I should re-iterate the fact that the scottish-anglers.net site only came to my attention from a link which seems to have been posted there in a section I am unable to view. The Blogger traffic, tool identifier tell's me this.

    As I said, it would be nice if someone could send me the thread or topic content via the e-mail address fishinginscotland@live.co.uk .

    It would be even nicer to get an invite to join the forum which is kindof what I was hoping for when I first realised Jim had submitted a comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The reason some area's are not viewable by non-members is fairly simple really, someone from another forum was for lack of a better description making a pest of themselves for reasons only known to them. I do not know the person nor had any dealings with them rather than when they decided it would be fun to come annoy us, as a result things were tightened up on our site but ALL are welcome to register and join in a very friendly and relaxed place where you do not have to worry about as you put it "falling foul" of the staff. I do not know which post you are asking about as we have some 15,148 Total Posts so as you can imagine it would be a tad difficult to pin point 1 for you without more info.

      I am the owner and everyone is given a warm welcome and hopefully made to feel at home and on 1st name terms with all members.

      Have a nice Xmas, John

      Delete
  4. John, thanks for your comment and I'm sorry to hear that someone has been making a pest of themselves on your forum.

    Who knows, it could be the same anonymous person who left a comment on here or it could be someone else who's a bit more devious and ill willed than honest guys like ourselves. One thing I've found though, through personal experience regarding forums, is that sometimes all roads don't lead to Rome, even though it might seem as though they do. Wolves in sheep's clothing and all that kind of stuff.

    Anyway, it seems as though you've got a great wee forum going there with some top quality guys on board and I hope it goes from strength to strength.

    Best wishes to you and yours over the festive period.

    Regards and merry Christmas,

    Donald.

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  5. Hi Donald,
    hope things are going well for you and yours.

    I'll vouch for the afore-mentioned fishing site. Friendly and more than happy to take on any new members who are genuinely happy to join in with both informative and banter-orientated posts, it is a forum eager for more members, that is the only way they can thrive and it is the only way that members can improve their knowledge.

    As mentioned elsewhere, unfortunately the forum has had issues with persons who like to remain anonymous and, as such, the owners have had to resort to policies they would prefer not to employ that are a little more obstructive to gaining access.

    Having been hounded and banned from fishing forum to fishing forum in the past yourself, you will surely understand why these unfortunate procedures have had to be employed. It is about protecting people like yourself from those who take delight in causing issues that these policies have had to be implemented.

    I would also like to state that there are very few fora/forums (take your preferred spelling :-)) that allow complete access without the reader having to join.

    Feel free to join the forum, I'll vouch for you to the admin team.

    Cheers

    Steve (Ardbeg)

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  6. Hi Steve,

    Thanks for your comment, much appreciated.

    Unfortunately there have been a couple of silly comments submitted here which I decided not to publish as they were of no benefit to anyone and I hope that's the end of it. I do however fully understand the proceedures your admin team have had to put in place.

    Re. banning etc., I guess I'm in good company as some of my best friends have been locked out of fishing forums for expressing an opinion that didn't seem to fit the form :-)

    Anyway, it's all water off a duck's back so to speak - lol. What doesn't sit well with me though is when some folk think they can influence how people see other folk from behind a keyboard.

    As I said, it looks like a quality forum you guys have got going there with some top quality contributors and long may it continue :-)

    Donald.

    ReplyDelete